Exploring The Design, Construction & Building Of Enclosures

An enclosure is the technical term for housing or a covered framing for equipment or machinery. Enclosures are purposely built for their unique applications with different types of hardware. One example is a common sight on roadways, the electrical enclosure. An electrical enclosure houses electrical components for utility companies and the relays and switches for traffic control to protect equipment from the elements. In the home, stereo equipment comes in soundproof enclosures that channel the sound in one direction for better music quality. In the office, security enclosures protect expensive equipment like computer servers and sensitive materials such as patented material. Let us take a look further into each type of enclosure and investigate how industrial products, from fasteners to other hardware, are utilized for each specific design.

Electrical Enclosures

Electrical enclosures are a very common sight. They are seen on the side of roads, at nearly every controlled intersection, and at the end of the block. These enclosures protect a variety of electrical equipment, from the time relays that operate traffic lights to the switches that supply power to homes. Not only do they keep the equipment safe, but they are also meant to keep people safe from electric shock.

The primary purpose of electrical enclosures is to provide protection against the environment, specifically corrosion, for the equipment inside and to prevent electrical shock to people and maintenance personnel. The hardware utilized within electrical enclosures will emphasize corrosion resistance and the outer components will include insulation or non-conductive materials.

Certain materials will resist the corrosion caused by moisture and the elements. Aluminum is a soft metal that has good corrosion resistance and is also non-magnetic. Stainless steel will also perform well like aluminum, but has the added bonus of being extremely impact resistant. In most of these applications, however, stainless steel would be overkill and overpriced. Plastics will resist water damage, but they are typically sensitive to heat, which may cause a problem in an electrical box sitting in direct sunlight during the summer months. Regular carbon steel is always a decent choice due to its low cost and easy handling, but will require more maintenance and painting to keep rust-free.

For insulation, many enclosures can be mounted on and surrounded by wood, this being the simplest application. Rigid plastics are also non-conductive and are often used in the quick release fasteners for opening boxes. Brass heads on fasteners can also be used, as brass can be alloyed to be both corrosion resistant and since it is non-magnetic, will make a good insulating material as well.

Sound Proof Enclosures

In the home, the most commonly seen enclosures are sitting right in front of you on the entertainment system. Stereo components, subwoofers and speakers in particular are housed in enclosures. They perform double duty by protecting electrical equipment, but their main purpose is sound control. Speakers generate sound in all directions, but it is the job of the enclosure to properly direct the sound forward. If the sound waves are not focused towards the listener, sound quality will suffer from echoes and interference.

Sound control is achieved by the use of vibration control in stereo enclosure fasteners and in the housing itself. Materials that act as insulators against electricity will perform the same duty against sound waves. This is why nearly all stereo equipment is housed in wooden or plastic boxes. Inside the box, vibration control is obtained from fasteners and locking screws made of nylon with added washers to hold the hardware in place during operation. These materials will be able to hold up to the intense vibrations from music, TV, and DVDs.

Enclosures For Secure Storage

A third common type of enclosure is the security enclosure. Housing expensive equipment and sensitive documents is a common need among businesses. Security enclosures are built for strength and to resist a concerted effort at a break-in. Typically, expensive electronics like computer servers and valuable documents like industrial patents and accounting information will be stored in such an enclosure.

The obvious need for security enclosures is a high tensile strength. Materials must be resistant to impact and sheering in order to provide a durable structure to secure valuables. In this application, stainless steel is an incredibly potent material that will see a lot of use. Stainless steel can even be case hardened to provide further strength and protection. Carbon steel parts can also be used if they have been case hardened, but the most sensitive materials will undoubtedly utilize stainless. All of the outside fasteners and hardware will be of the highest strength to provide an enclosure without any weak points that can be used to gain entry. Inside the enclosure, less expensive materials can be used to mitigate the cost of large amount of stainless steel.

With the wide variety of industrial products available for use in construction, enclosures have the ability to cover many applications. From high strength secure enclosures, vibration controlled soundproof enclosures and insulted electrical enclosures; the choice of hardware is paramount to meeting design specifications.